Sean Martin takes closer look at what makes Scottie Scheffler's PLAYERS win so special

Editor’s note: This article was first posted on X following Scottie Scheffler’s historic win on Sunday and has been lightly edited for clarity.

Some closing thoughts from THE PLAYERS:

1. Still amazed by the fact that Scottie said he was "slapping it around" and in pain every time he took the club back on Friday and Saturday, but he still led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, SG: Off-the-Tee, Driving Accuracy and was third in Greens in Regulation. He had to take extra club on approach shots because he couldn't swing at full speed, and his driving distance dropped more than 20 yards from Thursday to Friday.

Golf swings are obsessed over and analyzed in slow motion, but sometimes it just comes down to athleticism and talent. Some players just have an innate gift that separates them from the rest. It's maximized through hard work, but a gift, nonetheless.

“He played with what he had,” his longtime swing coach, Randy Smith, said about Scheffler’s performance at THE PLAYERS, “and he knows he didn’t have anything but his hands and his creativity to get through it.”

My favorite anecdote that illustrates Scottie's toughness comes from his high school basketball coach, who had to temper Scottie's eagerness to take charges to help the team: “I had to pull him aside a few times and say, ‘If you see a big guy coming down the lane, you step aside,'" his coach said. "He was unconcerned with his well-being. … My biggest fear was that he’d jeopardize his golf career.”

2. The 64 on Sunday was incredible – tying the record for low final round by a PLAYERS champion – but the win wouldn't have been possible without birdies on his final three holes on the third round.

He made putts of 6, 7 and 12 feet to pull within five shots of the lead entering the final round. No one has come back from a larger deficit at TPC Sawgrass.

"Standing on 16 tee I would say that I was pretty significantly out of the tournament," Scheffler said.

3. I don't think I can overstate the importance of the Scottie-Meredith dynamic.

Unconditional love is what we're all seeking, whether we want to admit it or not.

If you watch the PGA TOUR's video from the moments after the win became official, one of the first questions that Ted Scott asks is, "Where's your bride?" The most elation Scottie showed was when he first saw Meredith coming out of the clubhouse. He raised both hands in the air in victory and was grinning from ear to ear. It was a stark contrast to the intimidating, bearded world-beater we see on the course.

The TOUR also posted a video earlier in the week of Scottie reliving his 2023 PLAYERS win on TPC Sawgrass' 18th green. He started tearing up when he talked about his wife.

"I always get emotional when I talk about Meredith for some reason,” he said.

In his post-victory press conference, Scottie talked again about how she keeps him grounded: "At the end of the day, I think it all goes back to the support system at home," he said. "I really do have a great support system. I'm very thankful for it. I have a great wife, and if I started taking my trophies and putting them all over the house and walking in all big-time, I think she would smack me on the side of the head and tell me to get over myself pretty quickly. Winning golf tournaments doesn't give me any brownie points at home, so I just try and do my best."

He talks often about not putting his identity in a golf score. It's easier said than done, but the people around him definitely help in that pursuit.

4. I love the cadence of TPC Sawgrass' back nine.

Players had three consecutive birdie opportunities on Nos. 11-13, which all played under par on Sunday. The 11th and 12th were truly must-birdie holes. (Side note: Scottie hitting his drive pin-high on 12 yesterday is an amazing example of ball control, as well as a little luck). But then, players faced the most difficult par-4 on the course (No. 14) and another stout two-shotter on 15 before getting another birdie opportunity on the par-5 16th.

Seventeen is a true "anything can happen" hole with just a wedge in hand and a funnel pin but trouble all around. I don't want to draw the ire of the Fencing X community for misusing terms, but it creates a great thrust and parry throughout the back nine and lots of movement on the leaderboard.

Four of the five hardest par 4s on Sunday were on the back nine (Nos. 14, 10, 18 and 15, in order of difficulty). But the back nine also had three of Sunday's four easiest holes (Nos. 11, 16 and 12, in order of ease). At last year's PLAYERS, Scottie pulled five ahead by making five straight birdies on Nos. 8-12. He birdied four of those holes (Nos. 8-9, 11-12) on Sunday to tie the lead. It was almost six in a row. He missed a 12-footer for birdie on 10 and a 5-footer on 13.

5. We saw another Scottie hole-out early in the final round en route to a big win.

It's becoming like clockwork. At the 2022 Masters, he holed an incredible bump-and-run into a slope short of Augusta National's third green. The three-shot lead he began that final round with was down to one after Cameron Smith birdied the first two holes. Then Scheffler missed the green on Augusta's short third hole, which is supposed to offer another birdie opportunity early in the round after the par-5 second. He and Smith were both in similar spots, but Scheffler holed it and Smith made bogey, allowing for Scheffler to immediately get those two shots back and regain a three-shot lead.

Scottie was 1-over for the day when he arrived at the eighth tee in last year's PLAYERS. Players were making moves ahead of him, and the wind was supposed to strengthen while he was on the back nine and his challengers were sitting safely in the clubhouse. He and caddie Ted Scott smartly committed to leaving the tee shot short of the flag on No. 8 because of the green's severe back-to-front slope. He missed the green but was content because he was left with a relatively simple uphill chip. Scottie holed it for the first of five consecutive birdies that turned last year's PLAYERS into a rout.

This year, it was an eagle hole-out from 92 yards on the fourth hole that got Scottie started. Beginning the day five back, Scheffler needed to make an early move. He parred the first three holes, however. Playing those holes in even was losing ground to the field, as all three played under par Sunday (No. 2 was the day's easiest hole). Every shot going forward was going to be crucial after that slow start. The fourth hole is less than 400 yards, but it also was Sunday's third-hardest hole. Scottie eagled it.

"I was hoping to make some early birdies, and I parred the first three, and then the hole-out really got me going there on No. 4," he said.

It wasn't Scottie's only hole-out of the week. He also chipped in on the third hole Friday, when he was dealing with some of the worst pain he felt all week. He holed out twice in his 2023 PLAYERS win, as well, chipping in for eagle in the third round in addition to the one he made on the eighth hole of the final round.

What a week. Thanks for reading.